1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to reducing power consumption at a user equipment (UE).
2. Background
Wireless communication devices are increasingly rapidly in adoption and functionality. In particular, the capabilities of mobile devices with regard to processing power and battery life have been driven by customer dependence on mobile devices as a primary communication means. While data applications have risen in popularity along with the advanced computing capabilities of today's mobile devices, voice and other audio communication still accounts for a large percentage of mobile device use. For example, the average mobile phone subscriber used approximately 700 voice minutes per month in 2009.
Battery life of mobile devices can be an important feature for consumers. For example, “talk-time,” or the time the battery lasts while using the device for voice communications, may be used as a primary selling feature for many mobile communications devices. While talk-time of a mobile device is a function of many parameters and components of the mobile device, power used in transmission and reception of wireless communications may account for a substantial portion of mobile device power usage. Many techniques have been developed for reducing power consumption in mobile devices related to wireless communications. For example, audio compression is used to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted and received by the mobile device. Further, power control may be used in conjunction with channel coding of the compressed voice data to result in more robust communications at a lower transmitted power level from the mobile device. While these techniques have provided improvements, further reductions in power consumption during voice communications may be beneficial.